Researchers at Cardiff University have discovered a new type of killer T-cell that offers hope of a "one-size-fits-all" cancer therapy. T-cell therapies for cancer - where immune cells are removed, modified and returned to the patient's blood to seek and destroy cancer cells - are the latest paradigm in cancer treatments. The most widely-used therapy, known as CAR-T, is personalised to each patient but targets only a few types of cancers and has not been successful for solid tumours, which make up the vast majority of cancers. Cardiff researchers have now discovered T-cells equipped with a new type of T-cell receptor (TCR) which recognises and kills most human cancer types, while ignoring healthy cells.
This TCR recognises a molecule present on the surface of a wide range of cancer cells as well as in many of the body's normal cells but, remarkably, is able to distinguish between healthy cells and cancerous ones, killing only the latter. The researchers said this meant it offered "exciting opportunities for pan-cancer, pan-population" immunotherapies not previously thought possible. read more
President Donald Trump tweeted a new logo for his long-hyped Space Force on Friday and, well, people quickly noticed it looked familiar. The logo is almost exactly the same as the Starfleet insignia in the Star Trek franchise. read more
Yale will stop teaching a storied introductory survey course in art history, citing the impossibility of adequately covering the entire field " and its varied cultural backgrounds " in one course. read more
Sean Wilentz, The Atlantic, writes about the NYT's 1619 Project. "The project's aim, the magazine announced, was to reinterpret the entirety of American history. "Our democracy's founding ideals," its lead essay proclaimed, "were false when they were written." read more
Scientists warned in 2017 that a SARS-like virus could escape a lab set up that year in Wuhan, China, to study some of the most dangerous pathogens in the world. read more
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